The present invention relates to trucks or other land vehicles with sleeping compartments and, more specifically, to land vehicles with beds supported in such compartments in a manner that permits the beds to be stowed to free up space otherwise occupied by the bed.
It is known for vehicles, such as long-haul trucks, to include sleeping compartments rearwardly of the driver and passenger seat area of the truck.
A number of these sleeping compartments are of a raised roof configuration which provides sufficient head clearance, that is, space between the floor and interior ceiling, to allow a driver or a passenger of the truck to stand fully erect in the sleeping compartment area. Beds positioned in the sleeping compartment are known to have been hinged to a lower portion of the back wall of the truck for pivoting about a fixed pivot axis which extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the truck. In some cases, storage compartments have been positioned under such beds so that when the beds are pivoted, access is provided to the storage spaces. In such configurations, the bed and storage compartment interferes with the area available for an individual to walk in the sleeping compartment. That is, the bed occupies floor space that would otherwise be available for someone to walk within the sleeping area.
Truck sleeping compartment configurations are also known where the bed is pivoted to a lower portion of the back wall so that it can be shifted against the back wall of a truck in a "murphy" bed style configuration. When against the back walls additional floor space is available in which a person can walk within the sleeping compartment. However, the bed still occupies space in a lower portion of the sleeping compartment, even when folded against the back wall. In addition, when the bed is lowered, no living space is available under the bed.
Sleeping compartment bunk configurations for trucks are also known where an upper and lower bunk are provided with both of the bunks or beds extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. In these arrangements, the upper bunk prevents an individual from walking erect in the sleeping compartment area of the vehicle. In addition, the lower bunk limits space available for walking and other furnishings. In addition, the upper bed or bunk in such configurations interferes with the folding of the lower bunk against the back wall of the vehicle.
Therefore, a need exists for vehicles with beds which are constructed in a manner that frees up additional space within a vehicle for other purposes and, in particular, which is directed toward overcoming these and other problems of the prior art.